Such was the Sixers’ day — and their night — Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center, one of mixed messages, one of blurred plans.

Before defeating the Miami Heat, 114-110, showing that they don’t have to lose games and win drafting position to make a basketball season interesting, they held a different kind of party. In that, the NBA retired from Allen Iverson, or maybe it was the other way around.

Either way, the message was clear: Winning games, not winning lottery picks, is still the best way to go about enjoying success.

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First, the ceremony, one in a series for Iverson, the last player the Sixers had the good fortune of selecting with the No. 1 overall pick in a draft. “It was,” Iverson would say, “a great ride.” And it was — for the franchise, for the fans who used to fill the joint. For the Sixers, though, it never was a ride on a parade float on Broad Street, was it? And wasn’t that the danger buried beneath the “Together We Build” plan that the Sixers are unashamedly calling their 2013-2014 plot, even throwing it onto T-shirts and distributing them on Opening Night?

It is one thing to have a bad season, a fortunate spot in the lottery, and the promise of success to come. But becoming like the headliner in the second half of that doubleheader, the two-time sitting NBA champion Heat? Even with the way the Sixers played Wednesday — alert, fast, confident — that could be a touch more complicated. Yet that is the plot, in however many words: Use young players, learn a little, maybe even lose a lot, then cash later.

“We place so much effort into development,” Brett Brown said. “We don’t spend a lot of time meeting as a staff during those practice times or possible practice times. We’ve invested everything we can trying to help our guys get better. All of our guys have put in the time. And I hope from just a personal level, not just as a coach, that they can find some success, that they see reward for the work they put in.”

The reward, the Sixers feel, is coming. But it will take a while — years, then more years. Before then, they hope to supplement their effort with a first-overall draft choice, perhaps as soon as June.

Like Iverson, LeBron James once was a first overall draft choice. And like the Sixers with Iverson, the Cleveland Cavaliers never could cash that fortune in for a championship. It was only when James did the talent-take route to Miami that he finally ended a season with a net around his neck.

Yet that’s kind of the Sixers’ idea, too. After winning the 2006 championship, Miami retreated, opening opportunities to pounce, which it did by springing for James. Then the Heat succeeded again. It’s why Dwyane Wade will relate this season to what the Sixers are trying.

“Well, it’s tough,” Wade said. “Obviously, I have been on a team that won 15 games before, and it gets no worse than that in professional sports. Every day is a grind, but you have continue to be professional. You have to continue to work on your individual game. And when opportunity presents itself, for yourself, for your team, then you have to be ready to strike.”

The Sixers showed plenty Wednesday, scoring the first 19 points, staggering the Heat, then defending with intensity late in the game. Michael Carter-Williams, central to their project, was spectacular, scoring 22, supplying 12 assists and nine steals, making just one turnover. Evan Turner scored 26, Spencer Hawes 24.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm,” Hawes said. “Everybody has different motivation at different times in their careers. And I think a lot of guys are in the same situation: Starting something and trying to establish a career for themselves.”

Start a career. Enjoy success. Retire. But don’t count on a championship. Instead, as Iverson said, just enjoy the ride.

That was the theme on a day of mixed messages, one with an end, one with a beginning, in that order.